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Tesla’s First 400 kWh Of Free Supercharging For Model S & X Ends

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Say goodbye to the free 400 kWh of Supercharging.

Tesla completed the transition from fully free Supercharging for long-distance travel in the Model S and Model X cars to a fully paid business model.

Initially, S/X cars were sold with a promise to be able to free Supercharge forever and cars sold then still can use Superchargers for free. In 2017, Tesla highly limited the free Supercharging of newly-sold cars in the U.S. (and later also in Europe) by offering new S/X with just 400 kWh free credit annually. Depending on versions, it was at least 5 full charges or up to around 10 partial recharges.

According to the latest news, cars sold on November 2, 2018 and on don’t get any free Supercharging credit, so 100% of the recharges are paid (at least if the owner does not receive some promotion like the 6-months of free Supercharging from the referral program).

From Tesla’s site:



My Tesla includes 400kWh of credits annually—how do those work?

Certain Model S and X vehicles sold before November 2, 2018 include annual Supercharger credits of 400kWh, or roughly 1,000 miles. For usage above the complimentary annual credits, a small fee applies to Supercharge. Credits replenish automatically on the anniversary of your delivery or known ownership transfer. Unused credits do not rollover to the next year and you can view your vehicle’s Supercharger credit status by logging into your Tesla Account.



Tesla Model 3 from the start was sold without any free Supercharging, so now all three models are equal in this regard.

The cost of charging is comparable to electricity costs, which is still less than in the case of other fast charging networks. In California it’s $0.26/kWh. Depending on state or country, the amount varies and is calculated per kWh or minute (if a particular market causes issues with how electricity is sold).

Source: Tesla via Electrek

This article originally appeared on Inside EVs.

 
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The free supercharging for life was a unsustainable program. It was used as a perk to people buying early on cars, and while the Supercharger network was being rolled out.

In the beginning, very little cost to the company was involved, especially considering the relatively larger costs of building the Superchargers themselves. Most of the initial Superchargers were empty most of the time, and there was lots of unused capacity.

Now that the production volume of Tesla vehicles has ramped up, the electricity demands have become substantial. The cars have proven themselves to be very popular and in high demand. Makes sense for Tesla to want the Superchargers to both support the conversion to EV sustainability and also to cover their own costs.

Maybe someday, Superchargers will each have their own price, with demand and utility energy costs figured into the mix.

Over the years I believe that their will still remain, a few long term owners, that will ultimately turn over 1 Million miles on their early cars and cherish their Supercharger for life status as a treasured perk.
 
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Maybe someday, Superchargers will each have their own price, with demand and utility energy costs figured into the mix.

Superchargers do sort of have their own price. It is not as granular as what you mentioned but costs are broken out by state. Just scroll down and choose the state where you will be availing yourself of a sip of Supercharging electrons to ascertain how much it will cost.
Supercharging
 
Maybe someone can correct me if I'm wrong. Didn't Tesla also offer free supercharging for life to some of the early VIN MS's and MX's where the free supercharging transfers with the original owner to any future Tesla vehicle purchases?

This is true, but early in the Model X's run it switched to a Supercharging for original owner for both Model X and S. Then 400 KWh free. And now you pay when to use a Supercharger. Glad I got a got my Model X with the free for original owner program.

The free for life of the car may sway some people to buy early used Model X's.
 
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Maybe someone can correct me if I'm wrong. Didn't Tesla also offer free supercharging for life to some of the early VIN MS's and MX's where the free supercharging transfers with the original owner to any future Tesla vehicle purchases?

Free for life supercharging was tied to the VIN and stayed with the VIN, not the owner. So the next guy that bought the car got the free supercharging.

There was a time period where as an owner if you bought a new S or X by "XX" date, you could get free supercharging for life on the new car too, even if the new car wasn't eligible under the new program. But that promotion is over now.
 
do I have free supercharging for as long as I have my 2017 MS75, bought new, Aug. 2017
Yes, I believe so. If you purchased with a referral. As long as you are the owner. Car is sold, free supercharging goes away.

Edit - or I may be totally wrong. Too many different time periods.

Look on your account online under your car -

Mine is attached.

5C6D04C6-22A9-4FF8-BE79-F8B8FEDD946F.jpeg
 
That is incorrect. Transferable free unlimited supercharging ended January 15, 2017. If the car wasn't ordered by then, any free unlimited supercharging ends when ownership ends.

And here is mine, Free goes with the car in my case for the life of the car regardless of how many people buy this car until its life ends. I have never heard of it going with the person, only hearsay from this sight. Perhaps very, very early on?

Supercharging
You have free, unlimited Supercharging for your current Tesla vehicle as well as any new Model S or Model X purchased before January 31, 2018. If you choose to sell your current Tesla, free Supercharging will transfer to the next owner. In addition, up to five friends you refer will also receive free Supercharging. Read our Supercharging terms.
 
And this is not necessarily by choice, because states have different regulations on the selling of electricity.
Yes, Tesla does have to obey and abide by all of the different state commerce regulations when it comes to reselling the regulated commodity which in this case is electricity. I do not know any of the details of the various state regulatory controls that affect Tesla's Supercharging business but I would be surprised if Tesla did not have near absolute control over the sale price of the electricity dispensed.